There are ups with the downs

It is fortunate that there are many organizations, companies, and individuals who are present to support kids like Anya.  Although we wish very much that she wouldn't carry the label "visually impaired" with her for the rest of her life, there is now nothing we can do about that.  We need to pick ourselves up and move on with life, just as Anya has.  Part of that moving on will involve the Anchor Center.
http://www.anchorcenter.org/

We visited the school last week and met with one of the teachers there.  She gave us a tour of their facility which is stunning.  Every part of it was built with visually impaired children in mind.  In fact, she told us that the architects spent time blindfolded just to have a better idea of how to design the building.  My favorite part is the use of the outdoors - one of the rooms opens out onto a beautiful garden.  The occupational therapist told me that they use it often, for example, if they are working on cutting skills, they just go right outside and cut flowers or grass.  Anya's favorite part is the Motor room.  This room looks more like it would be used for gymnastics or the best PE class ever.  There are swings, rocking horses, spinning wheels, scooters and ramps, tricycles, and right next to all of that is a climbing wall.

In addition to the facility itself, there is a staff that sounds amazing, and from the few that we met, they are.  Each child is assigned to a teacher of the visually impaired, and then there is an occupational therapist, music therapist, horticulture therapist, librarian and a whole lot more.  Once a month they go on field trips, often they do tap dancing (which Anya has been dying to try), and so much more that I can't even remember it all.

We are excited for this opportunity for Anya.  It is an environment where she will certainly thrive.  It will also mean some changes in all of our lives, as the school is in Denver.  Driving 45 minutes to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays will be quite a bit different from the 4 block walk that we have now.  We also hope to continue with our local preschool for now.  I am a bit nervous about this as it sounds like a lot of school for one little 4 year old.  Thankfully, she loves school, so I don't think she will have a problem with it, we just want to keep it that way.